King of the Australian Coast: The Work of Phillip Parker King in the Mermaid and Bathurst 1817-1822

Melbourne: Melbourne University Press/Miegunyah Press. 1998. Large octavo, original cloth covered boards, dustjacket, colour plates, b&w plates, maps, b&w text illus, illus endpapers, all nine fold-out facsimile charts loosely inserted inside rear cover, bibliography, index. Traces of insect damage edge of endpapers, o/w very good condition in like d.j. Lavishly illustrated history of the work of King, who stands with Cook and Flinders in the history of the exploration and charting of Australia's coastline. In a series of gruelling voyages between 1817 and 1822 King charted most of the north-west coast of Australia from the eastern tip of Arnhem Land all the way round to Cape Leeuwin and King George Sound. His major discoveries include Exmouth Gulf, Port Essington and the Alligator, Liverpool and Prince Regent rivers. He surveyed Macquarie Harbour in Van Diemen's Land, and the treacherous waters inside the Great Barrier Reef to Torres Strait. <br>Includes nine fold-out facsimiles of the charts painstakingly prepared by King and J.S. Roe. Reprint. Boards.